The siege that will not lift
Wednesday, July 21, 2004

FOR NEARLY a month now the Israeli army has besieged the northern Gaza
Strip agricultural town of Beit Hanoun, creating there a humanitarian
disaster. The army has blocked off the main routes to the town with tanks
and piles of sand, so that the residents of Beit Hanoun have access now to
only one sandy route in and out of the town, which they must pass on foot,
or if they are lucky, by donkey or horse-drawn cart.

Furthermore, those taking this route to enter or leave the town are always
at risk of being shot at from the surrounding Israeli tanks.

A limited number of United Nation Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and
other local charity trucks have been allowed into Beit Hanoun to deliver
food supplies.

However, the supplies that have been allowed in are far from sufficient.
According to UNRWA, although it managed to deliver by July 14 some 370 tons
of food to Beit Hanoun, providing food for more than 20,000 persons, this
is only two-thirds of the population of the besieged town. The remaining
third have not been reached.

Moreover, the food has arrived late.

Sirriya Mustafa Hamad, 60, mother of 10, walks quickly to keep up with her
grandsons who are riding a donkey-drawn cart packed with flour, oil,
lentils, sugar and rice just received from a local UNRWA distributing
center.

"This is the first aid we have received for 17 days. My son hasn稚 been
able to buy us any food at all so far・this food is priceless," Sirriya
says pointing at the bags of flour on the cart.

Sirriya reaches her house where her sons start carrying the bags of flour
into the house.

"Everybody・she continues 杜ust be home by nine p.m. now because the
Israeli soldiers start moving around the town after that・there is
continuous gunfire at night."

Indeed, a recent UNRWA press release speaks of the difficult conditions of
the inhabitants of Beit Hanoun saying they, "have been living under sever
hardship since [the town] was cut off from the rest of Gaza by the Israeli
army on June 28. Fresh food supplies have been running low, employees have
been unable to reach their work and in some areas the Israeli army has
destroyed the water and electricity infrastructure."

Since the eruption of the Intifada almost four years ago, Beit Hanoun has
been invaded by the Israeli army dozens of times, under the pretext of
thwarting the firing of Qassam rockets by Palestinian activists there. The
most recent invasion came just two days after Qassam rockets killed two
Israelis.

However, whatever reason the army may give for its incursions into Beit
Hanoun, its major activities there have been the leveling of the orange
groves that make up the agricultural town.

According to the Beit Hanoun Municipality, during past incursions
excluding this current invasion, some 5,000 dunums of, mostly citrus, trees
have been bulldozed down by Israeli forces. In addition, an estimated 1,500
dunums of citrus trees have been destroyed in the current invasion.

As if this were not enough, the major infrastructure of the town of 40,000
inhabitants has also been destroyed.

Ibrahim Hamad, mayor of Beit Hanoun, says, "all water, power supplies and
telephone lines have been cut and most of the sewage system has been
destroyed.・

Hamad continues, "The town's industrial and agricultural facilities have
also been ruined. This town used to export honey, cheese and other produce
to Arab countries," he added.

Khalil Al Za'anin, a local farmer, said he would not plant new trees to
replace those that were destroyed unless international guarantees are given
to the Palestinians that Israel will stop "bulldozing our farms."

"The Israeli bulldozers have destroyed what remained of my farm during
this invasion," says Al Za'anin. Most of his vegetable farm had been dug up
previously by Israeli bulldozers when the army invaded the town and stayed
there for over a month a year ago.

Al Za'anin continues, "The Za'anin clan alone has lost more than 2,000
dunums of land which was the source of income for 50 families.・
The army has also demolished dozens of houses during this current invasion
into Beit Hanoun.

The house of 20-year-old Anas Ahmad Qallub, who studies law at Al Azhar
University in Gaza, was destroyed on July 12. Whilst sitting inside a tent
erected over the rubble of his destroyed house near to the western entrance
of Beit Hanoun, Qallub watches the inhabitants of the town walking to and
fro.

From that high place he also gets a good view of the town, particularly of
the huge orange groves that extend deep inside the town.

Qallub also describes the way houses in his neighborhood have been
besieged by the army, with nobody able to reach them to provide its
inhabitants with food or even to check if anyone inside is hurt.

"A nearby house was besieged by the army for several days,・says Qallub. 展
hen a Red Cross car recently passed by one of the houses, the owner of the
house waved a white flag to draw its attention, upon which Israeli soldiers
broke into the house and beat the man up," he continues.

But perhaps, worst hit by the siege of Beit Hanoun are those whose houses
are surrounded from all sides by the army and who therefore cannot step
outside at all.

Um Salah Ashor, mother of 13, who lives in the eastern part of the town,
cannot leave her house because it is totally surrounded by the army.

Speaking to her on the telephone she said, "We have almost run out of food
and nobody knows how long this siege will continue. I am even feeding my
children less to try and make the food last."

Furthermore, a few days ago she was contacted and told her brother had
been killed during the current invasion.

She describes how she could barely sneak out of the house to attend his
funeral.

"After the funeral all I could think about was my children who I had left
at home,・says Um Saleh. 的 was terrified I would get shot on my way home・
I sneaked through orange groves to reach my house," she said.

Just how long those orange groves will continue standing remains to be
seen.